Journal of Ohio Archaeology

N’omi B. Greber, Katherine C. Ruhl, and Isaac Greber

Abstract

In late November 1976, the Ringler Dugout was accidently discovered during commercial dredging excavations in Mud Lake, part of Savannah Lakes, Ashland County, Ohio. The significance of the find was recognized by the excavator and the land owner and reported to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The craft was quickly moved to the Museum for preservation and study. A summary of the two phases of the seven and half year preservation process is given. The results of dynamic stability experiments carried out on a scale model at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University demonstrate that the craft responds slowly and stably to rolling disturbances. It is a sturdy and heavy boat likely useful in shallow swampy waters. Three radiocarbon dates differ from the date reported in 1982. These place the making and use of the Dugout in the mid-seventeenth century.

Metin I. Eren

Abstract

Using a regional dataset comprised of unifacial stone tools from seven Clovis sites in the North American Lower Great Lakes region, this manuscript examines whether these tools were regularly hafted. It was hypothesized that colonizing foragers would not have regularly hafted their unifacial stone tools because this practice would have decreased toolkit portability. Test predictions were formulated stating: (1) if unifacial stone tools were regularly hafted, then there should be decreased richness of morphological edge classes and a lower frequency of spurs and notches in the proximal tool-section relative to lateral and distal tool-sections; but (2) if unifacial stone tools were not regularly hafted then there should be similar amounts of edge class richness and similar frequencies of spurs and notches among proximal, lateral, and distal tool-sections. Test results were consistent with the notion that Clovis unifacial stone tools in the Lower Great Lakes region were regularly hafted.